Nelson Wolff to Boehner: Pay our UNESCO dues

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (left) speaks Monday May 12, 2014 at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio. Boehner was in town for a conversation with Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith (right) while on a fundraising trip in Texas. Photo by John Davenport.

When U.S. House Speaker John Boehner came to town this week to meet with potential donors and partake in the “San Antonio Conversations” series, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff jumped at the opportunity.
For years, an effort has been underway to have the San Antonio Missions designated as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Education and Scientific and Cultural Organization. The application was submitted in February and a vote is expected in June of 2015.

Some here fear that the U.S.’s decision to stop paying U.N. dues three years ago, when the organization granted the Palestinian Authority full-member status, may hinder the World Heritage Site designation (even though a UNESCO spokeswoman said otherwise in a December story). As the last national budget was being considered, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, requested the U.S. to pay the portion of its U.N. dues that go to the World Heritage Fund, or $690,000. Castro’s request failed.

A Democrat, Wolff attended a fundraiser for Boehner, R-Ohio, if only to push the county’s message: Pay the World Heritage Fund dues to give the San Antonio site a chance. It would be the first World Heritage Site in Texas, and the 22nd in the U.S. There are 981 sites worldwide.

On Monday, Wolff said he gave Boehner a book on the San Antonio Missions, a study of the economic impact of a World Heritage site here, and a letter from the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, which supports paying the World Heritage Fund dues “while rejecting UNESCO’s conferring full membership on the Palestinian Authority.”

Wolff said he spoke briefly to Boehner about the issue, and was hopeful about the Missions’ future.

“We’d be the first in the state,” Wolff said. “He took it, so hopefully, that will all go through.”